Health, Fitness, News & Fun for Picklers of All Ages

What's Cooking in the Kitchen This Week:

• Reset Drills That Calm Chaotic Rallies

• Pickleball Is Better Than Therapy

• Fitness Expert Glenn Dawson: Hip Out Of Alignment? Try These 4 Moves

• Ben Johns Explains How to Perfect the Topspin Drive in Pickleball

• Can Pickleball Make You Happier? A Japanese Study Says Yes

• Humor: When Your Partner Is 10 Years Older Than You

• 92 Year Old And His Girlfriend Bond Over Love For Pickleball

• Kawamoto Sisters Claim First Women’s Pro Doubles Gold At PPA

• Gaming News: Fortnite Finds Pickleball

• Coach Mary: How The Pros Cover The Middle

🥷SKILLS

Reset Drills That Calm
Chaotic Rallies

How to survive the scramble, slow the pace, and take back control

When a rally turns fast and frantic, it’s easy to panic.

One team starts speeding things up, and the next thing you know you’re lunging, reaching, swinging wildly, and giving away points. Instead of chasing the rally, smart players reset it.

A reset is a soft, controlled shot—usually from the transition zone (the space between the baseline and the Non-Volley Zone, or “kitchen”)—that drops quietly into the NVZ, defusing your opponent’s momentum and giving you a chance to recover your position.

It’s not glamorous. It doesn’t win the point directly. But learning to reset under pressure separates strong players from streaky ones.

Here’s how to master it.

The Reset Mindset: Why Calm Wins A reset isn’t just a technical skill—it’s a decision. It’s the choice to control tempo instead of matching chaos. The best players don’t panic when they’re pushed off balance. They breathe, soften, and place the ball where their opponent can’t continue the attack.

💪 Health & Fitness Section
Weekly Advice To Keep You Fit & Injury Free

This Proves Pickleball
Is Better Than Therapy

Ever joke that pickleball is “cheaper than therapy”? Most of us meant it as a throwaway line.

But Harvard just crunched the numbers and proved it true. Regular players had far fewer signs of depression than the average person.

Here’s the part that surprised even the researchers: it’s not just because we’re moving our bodies. Tennis players saw a boost too – but pickleballers came out on top. Why?

That’s where things get interesting. Something built into the game itself seems to unlock benefits no pill or puzzle can match.

When Harvard Docs Decided to Test Our Theory
Harvard Medical School teamed up with Apple, the technology company. Harvard examined data from thousands of people wearing Apple Watches. They tracked how often people played, how long, and how their activity matched their moods.

What they found surprised them. Pickleball players had 60% lower odds of depression. Tennis players also had lower odds. But the results couldn’t quite match pickleball.

So, if exercise alone explained it, tennis would’ve been neck–and–neck. Clearly, something unique to pickleball is fueling these extra benefits. What is it?

Why Our Game Hits Different 
So why did pickleball edge out tennis in the Harvard data? The secret isn’t just movement – it’s the whole package.

 🏋️ STAYING FIT with
GLENN & BRIANNA

Hip Out Of Alignment?
Try These 4 Moves

🥷 SKILLS

Ben John Explains How
To Perfect The Topspin Drive

Ben Johns is showing why the topspin drive isn’t just flash, it’s foundation. The world No. 1 breaks down how hip rotation, paddle angle, and brushing the ball’s outside edge can turn a routine shot into a consistent weapon. Small changes, big payoff.

See Johns’ step-by-step on the topspin drive.

🤣 JUST FOR FUN

When Your Partner Is 10 Years Older Than You

⚕️HEALTH NEWS

Can Pickleball Make You Happier?
A Japanese Study Says YES

Pickleball has earned its reputation as the “fastest-growing sport in America,” and its momentum is global. But while much of the hype has centered around its appeal to retirees and rec-league warriors, a new study out of Japan shifts the focus to a different demographic: first-year college students.

In a pilot study conducted at Kyushu Sangyo University, researchers examined what happens to students’ moods after a single, 100-minute pickleball session. The setup? A doubles tournament held during a regular PE class. The outcome? Measurable boosts in energy—and hints at something deeper.

The findings were modest but telling: students reported feeling noticeably more “vital” post-match, a term researchers use to describe energized, alert, and motivated states. While other mood markers like pleasure and arousal trended upward, they didn’t reach the threshold for statistical significance. But the qualitative feedback said plenty. Most students described the session as “fun,” and nearly a quarter referenced connection and collaboration using terms like “cooperation” and “exchange.”

In short, the students weren’t just hitting shots—they were hitting it off.

Pickleball as a Mood Lift The underlying question in the study isn’t whether pickleball is good exercise (that’s been well-documented), but whether it does something for your headspace—especially in short bursts, and especially among younger, high-stress populations.

👏COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

92 Year Old And Girlfriend Bond
Over Love Of Pickleball

At nearly 93, Jack Ensminger is still torching younger opponents on the court—and doing it alongside his partner, Jill, who first picked up a paddle just a few years ago. Their story isn’t about slowing down; it’s about how a shared love of pickleball turned into daily competition, medals, and a reason to keep moving.

Read how Jack and Jill keep proving age is just a number, click here…

🏓 PRO NEWS

Kawamoto Sisters Claim First
Women’s Pro Doubles Gold At PPA

They were given just a one-percent chance. In Cincinnati, Jackie and Jade Kawamoto turned that number on its head—toppling the sport’s most dominant pairings and lifting their first pro doubles gold. It wasn’t just an upset, it was a recalibration of who belongs at the top of women’s pickleball.

Read how the Kawamotos rewrote the odds in five games, see more here…

RALLY RUNDOWN:
LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS

FORT WAYNE, IN: Vera Bradley Foundation Raises $1M For Cancer Research
WASHINGTON D.C: Pickleball Is Coming To The National Mall This Weekend
COACHELLA VALLEY, CA: Pink Pickleball Tournament Raises Funds for Cancer Care
VANCOUVER: A Gigantic, 98,000 Sq. Ft. Pickleball Pentre Will Soon Open In Metro Vancouver
SAN DIEGO, CA: Drew Brees Celebrity Pickleball Tournament Raises Funds To Feed San Diego Families
SIOUX FALLS, SD: Annual Pickleball Tournament Serves Up A Good Time
BILLINGS, MT: Pickleball Facility Moving Into Old Costco Building On Billings West End
DOUGLAS COUNTY, NV: Pickleball Tournament A Smashing Success

DO YOU HAVE LOCAL NEWS TO SHARE? REACH OUT TO US AT
[email protected] and send us a link to your story!

  💪 How The Pros Cover The Middle

HOW THE PROS COVER THE MIDDLE

Long-time pro Catherine Parenteau shares her secrets to how pros cover the middle and the sideline with their partners.

Here are the important points:
• To execute this defense, you must be on the balls of your feet, balanced, with your paddle out in front!

• Do not just think about covering your ‘10’.

• You will change your court defensive position depending on where you hit the ball to your opponent. Follow the ball on your opponents’ side.

• Cover the middle if your partner must move to cover their line. The hard crosscourt shot will be hard to execute for your opponent without error.

• Be sure to look at what Catherine does in her instructional video to place the players on the diagram, to understand the movement with your partner to cover the middle and the sideline.

• Hint: Dink soft middle to recover from off the court. This will give you time to recover back to cover your side.

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